You only have one chance to impress an investor. Make it count with a startup business plan by ThinkLions. We write custom plans that deliver your vision to angel investors and venture capitalists effectively.
You only have one chance to impress an investor. Make it count with a startup business plan by ThinkLions. We write custom plans that deliver your vision to angel investors and venture capitalists effectively.
You only have one chance to impress an investor. Make it count with a startup business plan by ThinkLions. We write custom plans that deliver your vision to angel investors and venture capitalists effectively.
You only have one chance to impress an investor. Make it count with a startup business plan by ThinkLions. We write custom plans that deliver your vision to angel investors and venture capitalists effectively.
What is a CEO? What is the Difference Between a CEO and an Owner? What are the Qualities of a Great CEO? What Does It Take To Succeed as CEO of a Startup? It’s no secret that everyone wants to be the CEO. A search for “CEO” on LinkedIn pulls up 8.6 million U.S-based users who claim to hold the…
Read Article
Building an App vs an App Startup How Hard Is It To Make An App? The Real Challenge for App Entrepreneurs So.. Just How Hard Is It To Make An App? We have all been guilty of letting the media fool us. Over the last decade, the blogs have mentioned hundreds of app startups that have seemingly popped up from nowhere and sold for billions a month later. After reading about so many app acquisitions, building a successful app startup almost seems… well, easy. Since the media doesn’t always mention how many obstacles these entrepreneurs and app developers have faced, we are given a false perception of what it takes to build a quality mobile app and create a profitable business around it. How hard is it to make an app? There are multiple levels to this answer. On one hand, it’s not hard at all - a variety of software will allow you to launch an app in a matter of minutes if you are building an app solely for the sake of having an app. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK Now if the question is, how hard is it for an app entrepreneur to have an app built; well, that takes on a different meaning. Difficulty depends on many factors including budget, experience, and the competency of their developers. The level of difficulty can range from relatively easy to extremely difficult. These are still very different questions than - how hard is it to build a successful app startup (like Uber or Instagram)? In this case, it’s about as difficult as finding a steaming hot cup of coffee in Antarctica. Fortunately, if you know what you’re doing, you can substantially improve the odds. In this post, we’ll give you the cold hard scoop on what it takes to build a real app startup and finally answer the question - how hard is it to make an app? Building an App vs an App Startup By definition, building an app isn’t the same thing as building an app startup. Just because you build a great app, does not mean that it will be successful - it doesn’t even mean that a single user will ever use it. Just for clarification: Building an app refers to the technical side of creating an app. It involves processes such as wireframing, app design and programming. A ‘great app’ refers to a software product that is technically sound and functions with little to no error. Building an app startup refers to the business side of bringing an app idea to life. If an app refers to the product, the app startup is the entity that brings that product to the consumer and monetizes it. Building an app startup involves planning and implementing effective launch strategies, marketing strategies, pricing strategies and more. A ‘great app startup’ refers to a business…
What Is A Growth Strategy? Startup Growth Strategies for Establishment Startup Growth Strategies Startup Expansion Strategies The world is full of great app ideas – unfortunately, very few of them will ever reach the App Store. Even with a great business plan, the vast majority of new apps are bound to fail. And for the very few that do manage to survive the first year after launch, only a small fraction will ever reach financial success. According to Gartner, less than .01% of consumer apps that were available in 2014 were expected to become a ‘financial success’ by 2018. Some apps die because they are simply just a bad product-market fit; but often, app startups fail due to the lack of a sustainable startup growth strategy.Everyone makes a huge deal about apps that made millions in profit, but we rarely hear about the tech companies that are barely surviving. Ken Delaney of Gartner said, “…of paid applications, about 90 percent are downloaded less than 500 times per day and make less than $1,250 a day. This is only going to get worse in the future when there will be even greater competition, especially in successful markets.” What does this mean for you as an app entrepreneur? It means that to become a dominating app today, you basically need to be a unicorn; and to succeed at all, you must have a strong startup growth strategy that allows you to rise wayabove the competition. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK What Is A Growth Strategy? Let’s start from the basics. The definition of a growth strategy is a game plan for capturing a wider share of the market. For a more established business, this means diversifying product offerings, expanding into new regions and etc. A new startup however, must take a different approach to growth, first ensuring that they have built the right product and then identifying how to get even the first few users to their app. Another difference is, startups must rely mostly on internal growth strategies while established businesses that have enough resources can tap into external growth strategies for even quicker growth. What is an internal growth strategy? An internal growth strategy refers to techniques that grow your business by relying on resources from within the business.These methods involve activities such as improving staff, optimizing marketing, and further developing theproduct offering. What is an external growth strategy? An external growth strategy relies on external measures of growth such as acquiring another business or building a strategic alliance with another brand. External growth strategies can allow businesses to grow rapidly, but in the beginning, startups typically don’t have the resources needed to successfully implement these techniques. Acquiring technology takes money that startups don’t typically have, and strategic alliances often require a strong brand awareness and a highly-defined product – other attributes that startups don’t typically possess. Instead, startups must implement the right growth strategies at the right time to first acquire early adopters; then to establish the business within the market;…
Phase I – 90 Days Before Your App Launch Phase II – 30 Days Before Your App Launch Phase III: 7 Days Before Your App Launch Phase IV: The Day Of Your App Launch Phase V: App Success For The Long-Term To the masses, it may seem like successful apps just pop up one day and achieve magnificent success without much effort. However, anyone who has ever launched an app before knows the truth – a successful app launch takes serious work and getting people to your app is not easy. While a great app idea may start at a hackathon, most apps aren’t built overnight… or in a week… or within a month. According to a study by Goodfirms, it takes an average of 3-5 months to fully build out and launch a mobile app. Why does it take so long? An app launch doesn’t just rely on how quickly your app developers can code it – but also includes many other steps like customer research, concept validation, pre-launch marketing, and more. To build a successful startup and experience a strong app launch, there are many factors that need to be in place before, during and after you push your app to the app stores. If you’re just starting development today, you’ve got at least 90 days to get everything together before launching. In this guide, we’ll guide you through each step that you need to take as you approach the day of your app launch. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK Phase I – 90 Days Before Your App Launch Three months before the official day of your app launch, you should already be setting the foundation for a strong launch. More specifically, you should be focused on validating your app idea and laying the groundwork for your marketing and branding. Validate Your Assumptions Before taking on the expensive journey of building a new piece of software, it is critical to validate your concept; proving that there is actually a market experiencing a specific problem, and that your product is the solution that the market is looking for to solve that problem. Not every app startup will change the world like Facebook or Uber, but there are thousands of highly successful apps that simply solve a small problem for a large number of users. True market disruption comes when a founding team creates an app that solves a problem that no other solution exists for. However, you don’t have to be the first to market to succeed as an app startup, you just need to solve the problem better or more effectively than other competing solutions. Consider how some of our favorite apps solve our largest problems: Uber solved transportation problems for citizens, making it easier to procure a ride without waiting on a taxi. Furthermore, Uber made it simple for the average person to earn extra income by monetizing their automobile and free time. AirBnb simplified the property booking process…
When Should You Track App Metrics? Launching With The Right App Metrics Tracking The Growth Of Your App Using Metrics To Scale Your App The great baseball legend Yogi Berra once said,“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” While this lesson is applicable across almost any area of life – it’s especially critical in app development. Here’s the caveat; while an end goal is of critical importance, what is equally as important is being able to track the performance of this goal so that you clearly understand whether you are actually moving closer to that goal or pushing further away from it. While tracking performance for most businesses can be challenging for many businesses, app startups have an advantage – tracking app metrics is quite simple if you know what to track and what to look for. Unfortunately, many apps fail and there are definitely more failures than successes. Successful startups heavily assess the metrics associated with their application so that if something isn’t performing as expected, they can catch it quickly and bring it up to par. For many ‘failed’ apps, only a few numbers are given consideration – especially traffic and revenue. While these factors can give some insight into an app’s performance, high traffic and revenue alone doesn’t mean your app is succeeding. Consider these scenarios and whether they truly identify a successful startup situation: Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK App “A” receives 50,000 new downloads every month, but only 1% of them visit the app a second time. App “B” earns $100,000/month in revenue; more than most app startups. However, they spend $110,000/month on advertising. App “C” has a download rate of 20,000 users per month to it’s free version, but almost no subscriptions to it’s premium versions. Are these apps successful? They are if you only consider traffic and/or revenue, but when considering other variables, it is obvious that neither of these examples are sustainable over the long term – and maybe not even over the short term. The key to ensuring that your app is performing successfully is to track the right KPIs; constantly checking them to make sure that you are reaching the right objectives. Why are app metrics important, specifically? They can help you identify opportunities to improve your software or strategy. They can help you identify when your strategy is not performing up to par. They give you a historical representation of whether you are experiencing growth over a specified period of time. In the following article, we will take a look at which app metrics are most important over each stage of the software development and launch process. When Should You Track App Metrics? There are many different types of app metrics that can be tracked, but knowing when to track each metric is as important as knowing which metrics…
Home Automation Explained The Best Smart Home Apps Notable Mention: IFTTT Is Automation Right for Your Home? Over the last decade, smartphone apps have allowed us to advance the progress of systems and processes that hadn’t changed in years. Twenty years ago, no one ever thought you’d be able to take your phone out of your pocket at work and view the real-time security footage of your home. Today however, that’s only one of the benefits of turning your home into a smart home using home automation. Now, millions of people around the world are also using home automation apps to do things like reduce their home energy usage and run their entertainment systems. And let’s not forget the greatest benefit of all… home automation apps are just downright freakin’ COOL. For those of us who remember The Jetsons cartoon, it’s like the future is now among us. It’s not going anywhere, any time soon, either. According to CNET, more than a quarter (28%) of Americans already own at least one smart home product – and 78% are more willing to buy a home that already has smart technology installed. Furthermore, the smart home industry is growing year by year at an exceptional rate and is projected to become a $58 billion industry by 2020. With mega-companies like Amazon, Google and Apple investing major dollars into the home automation space, innovative developers have brought many amazing home automation app ideas to reality; some which allow our homes to do things that were once only seen in sci-fi movies. In this article, we’ll explore the evolution of smart homes and introduce you to several home automation apps that can turn your home into an automated machine! Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK Home Automation Explained Home automation simply refers to the connection between your smart device and your home which allows you to control your home remotely; whether through your phone, through the web, or through a smart-enabled speaker like Google Home, Alexa or Apple’s Homepod. The home automation industry is widespread with all types of new technology hitting the market – there are even smart toothbrushes and smart flip flops available… a truly limitless technology sector. However, some of the most popular home automation apps and technologies are those that allow consumers to: Control their home’s lighting. Adjust the internal temperature of their homes. Manage and control electronic appliances. Operate their entertainment systems. Implement and access security systems. If you haven’t converted to complete home automation yet, you likely must be physically present and manually interact with your home devices to complete these tasks. By replacing your old devices with smart devices and using home automation apps however, these tasks can be launched and completed with a simple tap on your smartphone or a quick voice command. The key benefit of home automation is that you don’t have to be physically present to manage these tasks. You could be on vacation in a country on…
Dubsmash Puddle and Pile Cheatsheet Widget ParkJockey Shapr Ready To Build Your Interesting App? Over the last several years, the growth of mobile apps have allowed us witness the launch of some of the most life-changing technology the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, these days, unique and interesting app ideas are few and far between – for every Uber there are 20 app copycats and for every Tinder there are 100 other swipe-based dating apps that you’ve probably never heard of. Developers know how to create an app, but creating unique, first-moving and extremely interesting apps? Well, that’s something only few tech entrepreneurs can truly achieve. This post isn’t about the copycats. It’s not about the entrepreneurs who took a concept, added a small feature and claimed to have developed some “disruptive” new app idea. Instead, it’s about the innovators, the ones who saw a problem and created a new interesting way to solve that problem. Furthermore, we’ll show you what you can learn from these interesting app ideas so that you can come up with your own unique app solution.In the following list, we’ll offer the five most interesting app ideas that caught our attention. Here’s the awesome part, none of these apps are especially complicated – and they were created by someone just like you; a normal person with a great idea, a high level of commitment, and a focused follow thru. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK 1. Dubsmash Dubsmash is a unique video recording app that was created by three German engineers in 2014. The app allows users to record and blend lip sync videos. With the app, users can choose their favorite music or sound clips, blend the content with their videos, add special effects to the video, and create one-of-a-kind videos that can be shared with their friends. Like many other social type apps, Dubsmash feeds into our need to connect with one another – and to simply kill boredom. Dubsmash created a craze with users around the world; uploading and sharing millions of their fun (and often funny) lip sync videos. The hype around Dubsmash created a FOMO situation – users had a fear of missing out on the social action. What really drove the Dubsmash craze was the participation of several celebrities. Whether it was Lewis Hamilton lip syncing to a sound clip of Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2; or Hugh Jackman, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez or Rihanna lip syncing to their favorite clips – Dubsmash was able to create fans out of some of Hollywood’s most effective social influencers. During the highest point of its popularity, Dubsmash served over 100 million users around the world. Interesting App Ideas – Insights: Your idea doesn’t have to be revolutionary, but it does have to be “different”. Being the first mover of an idea allows you to capture the market, and its influencers,…
Slack IFTTT Segment.io Magic SafetyCulture Curefit SignalFx Do You Have A Million Dollar App Idea? There’s one thing that’s common among all successful apps, it’s that they have the ability to secure investment and create wealth for their founders and stakeholders. However, not many app developers and tech startups make it to the top, and unfortunately, not all of them are making millions from apps. There’s a major difference between apps that madea few thousand dollars before fizzling away and apps that made millions. Some apps only offer a momentarysolution to a problem, but the apps that really take off are those that provide their consumer with a continuoussolution that draws them back over and over again. In the past, the apps that made millions were mostly those that served an extremely mass audience – serving millions of people with low per customer value; and producing extreme profits as a result. Tinder, for example, is a multi-billion dollar company that serves an extremely wide market (singles of any type), while there are also several niche-focused Tinder clones (like Bristler – the dating app for those in love withfacial hair) that are successful in their own right; but will likely never meet the mass scale of Tinder. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK Tech startups like Tinder were made for mass scale adoption, and from it’s initial introduction, it wasn’t much of a surprise that it quickly went viral. However, some apps that made millions did so unexpectedly – maybe they were made for a specific or niche market but caught on with the masses, or maybe started off serving one type of consumer but wasable to expand to other customer segments. It’s hard to believe that Facebook wasn’t originally made to be the social media conglomerate that it is today. In the earliest stages, it was simply just a site that showed the faces of Harvard students and allowed other students to rate them. Was it luck? Not really. More so, it was the ability to recognize an opportunity and capitalize on it that made Facebook take off. Not every idea will turn into an app worth a million dollars; every startup won’t raise investor funding; and very few will be the next Facebook – but what does it take to build software that makes the most money? To grasp what is necessary for success, it’s a good idea to look at the journeys of apps that made millions (and raised millions), and especially, those who originally didn’t seem as if they were multi-million dollar ideas. In this article, we’re going to examine 7 of our favorites, and give you the insights you need to launch the next million dollar startup! 1. Slack Today, Slack is king when it comes to team communication solutions. Founded by Stewart Butterfield, Slack is a cloud-based set of collaboration tools and services that allows teams to streamline their communication and collaborate more effectively. Slack is now used by millions of teams around the…
The mobile app industry is arguably one of the most competitive industries in the world. With such intense competition, it is important to make your app stand out from the crowd. Here at TH!NKLIONS, we partner with our clients to do just that – and thats what makes us one of the best app developers in Detroit. Our expert designers and developers work to not only efficiently develop apps but ensure the app is set up for success once launched. We are excited to announce that our hard work and transparency with clients has positioned us as a leader on the Clutch platform. Clutch is a B2B ratings and reviews site based in Washington, D.C. Their platform allows business service providers and business buyers to connect and be more successful together. Clutch conducts reviews both over the phone and online to gather details regarding the project itself, client satisfaction, and impact of the engagement. The clutch methodology ranks different service providers based on these verified client reviews, industry expertise, and overall market presence. What are our clients saying on Clutch? Testimonials from our client reviews are highlighted below: “They were efficient, thorough, completely transparent, and easy to work with.” – Project Coordinator, BKB Properties “ThinkLions became our technical partner, and was instrumental in the foundation and growth of our end product.” – Founder, The Beer Exchange “It’s useful to me to have someone that I can explain to; they get the vision, and they can get something done from it.” – Owner, Yves Couture We currently stand as a leader on the Detroit Mobile App Development directory with an average of 5 star ratings (out of 5). To read our clients’ full reviews, visit our Clutch profile. There are several reasons why our clients have ranked us as one of the best app developers in Detroit, and as one of the most effective software companies in Michigan. First, building an app is only one piece of building a successful software startup. We don’t just understand technology – we are also an app startup consultancy agency that has helped hundreds of app entrepreneurs during the app funding and development stages. We know what it takes to get your app built, and more importantly, we know what it takes to make it succeed. From funding to fruition, and beyond, our team has helped clients around the world bring their app ideas to reality. Second, we know that Detroit is the next center of technology, and we strive daily to position ourselves as a helping hand in the establishment and growth of the Detroit apps, software and technology scenes. Our constant push for excellence is inspired by our desire to show the world just how brilliant Detroit really is. As one of the fastest growing tech companies in Detroit, have been ranked as: Top 10 for Web Development (Detroit) Top 15 Detroit Web Designers Top 5 Michigan App Developers We look forward to hearing more about what our clients have to say and…
Is Your App Right For The Incubator? Does The Incubator Offer The Resources You Need? Will The Incubator Help You Progress Your Business? How Strong Is Your Startup Team? A Final Word On App Incubators Startup app incubators have definitely cemented themselves as an important piece of mobile app culture. Some of the largest and most successful mobile app startups to date have spent time at incubators and accelerators, accessing seed capital and resources that propel their businesses to the next level. Entrepreneurs frequently ask us, “How do I fund my app idea?”; and joining an app incubator is often the route we recommend. During app incubation periods, entrepreneurs often have the support needed to finalize their app business plan and pitch deck, build their MVP, launch it to the public, bring in initial testers and users, and truly learn how to start an app idea the right way. There are new startup incubators popping up all over the country (and world), even in some places that have extremely limited startup scenes. For many app startups, they could be a game changer – but will it give you the advantage you need to bring your app idea to a mass scale? In this post we want to examine incubators and give you the information needed to decide whether a particular app incubator is right for your startup. Need Funding For Your App Idea? Download Our FREE eBook now! Learn the expert secrets behind building successful apps that attract invertors and get funded! DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK Is Your App Right For The Incubator? Before you can decide whether a specific incubator is right for your app, you need to consider if your app is truly in a position where an incubator can help. Due to the resources that they provide to startups, incubators are extremely competitive, and the vast majority of applicants are rejected. Larger incubators may receive thousands of applications each semester and if your startup isn’t a head-turner, your application may not even be read. Incubators are for startups, not for people who just have a ‘good idea’. If your idea isn’t far enough along in the startup process, incubators likely won’t be interested. Shaun Savage, founder of GoShare, experienced this firsthand. He told us, “ When we first applied to the EvoNexus program all we had was an idea and we were flat out rejected. The idea was too broad and the rejection was harsh but it was a much needed lesson. We decided to refocus our business plan and team up with a former colleague of mine to develop a Minimal Viable Product. After about 6 months of product development we applied to EvoNexus with our MVP and GoShare was accepted into the program.” The incubation period isn’t about building an idea into business; it’s about incubating a startup mobile app business to prepare it for proper market entry. Most incubators will require that you have a minimal viable product and some level of traction before…
© 2021. All rights reserved
